In the preparation of a soft drink through the mixing of syrup and water, the refractometric technique for measuring the sugar concentration expressed in Brix degrees is widely adopted. The final quality of a soft drink is indeed highly dependent on the ratio between syrup and water.
The measurement of Brix degrees is usually carried out with an optical refractometer. An example of an optical device for detecting Brix degrees is described in document CN 204495708 U. In this device, a prism is provided the inclined faces of which are used as a mirror (total reflection) to direct the measurement beam. The device also comprises further optical elements, consisting of lenses. The detector consists of an image sensor and finally a cleaning system of the optical device is provided. The optical device described in document CN 204495708 U is therefore complex and provides for a different measurement methodology with respect to that of the sensor according to the present invention.
Another example of an optical device for detecting Brix degrees is described in document EP 1050753 A2. This optical device is expressly used for the measurement of Brix degrees in controlling the mixing ratio of soft drinks. However, the layout of the optical device described in document EP 1050753 A2 differs from that of the sensor according to the present invention, just as the respective components differ.